September Net

Yemeni Organization of Prisoners and Abductees (YOPD) on Thursday organized a hearing of six civilians who were abducted and held captive in Houthi militia prisons.

At the hearing, released civilians gave testimony of the types of abuse and torture they suffered in Houthi militia prisons and detention facilities throughout their years there.

The recently released were part of a prisoner exchange deal between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia under the auspices of the United Nations, and they are: Khaled al-Nahari, Abdul Jalil al-Jaradi, Mohammed Shahbin, Issam al-Zindani, Bakil al-Khalidi, Bilal al-Qaher, and Haiz Hajil.

During the hearing, they reported being subjected to physical and psychological torture, including hanging in the ceilings of prison rooms, and beating with sticks in the hands and feet during the militia’s interrogation sessions, which lasted for several days without sleep, eating or drinking.

They also confirmed that the militia had tortured them in sensitive areas of their bodies, such as the head, spine, kidneys, rib cage, joints and bones of the hands.

According to the six released, they were imprisoned in dark rooms for several months, during which they were subjected to electric shocks, after which they were taken out to rooms with very large lighting, which affected their visual sense.

As part of the psychological torture, they said that the Houthi militia had carried out several trials against them in a comic form, and issued execution orders to many of them.